Founded in 2014, Homework Studio may take a little more effort to find, in the alleys behind Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. The manager tells us that they don’t like to make things too complex, but rather prefer a more casual demeanour. Their shop is filled with an elegance, adorned by antiques and custom-made furniture. Aside from selling out door-furniture and naturally made merchandise, product and space rental is also part of what they do. They hope that their products can last a life time and develop its own personality with each use. It’s their way of communicating with nature.

Q1: Why do you put so much effort into offering custom-made services (ex. paint jobs, color correction, etc.) for your clients?A: I had a client who came in quite often, and her hobby was photographing food. She came in once and bought a table and a chair to use as props in her shoot. I loved her photographs. So when she asked for custom backdrops I would do it for her. I think custom-made items has this appeal.Though the profit margin is not high, it’s fun, interesting, and assists our clients, so why not.

Q 2: We noticed that the photos on your Facebook p age is very casual yet has this vintage feel to it. You can see the detail paid to each picture. Have you learned photography before? Or is it because of your background in architecture?A: Thank you for liking our photos! Unfortunately I’ve never taken classes in photography. I think it’s just intuition and because we do it so often, you kind of learn through trial and error. I’m lazy sometimes and ask my colleagues to help me with the photos. There’s so much more we want to do that sometimes I feel like we aren’t doing enough.

Q 3: What camera do you shoot with? How did you learn to adjust the color of photographs?A: I’ve never learned how to adjust color, I just do it according to my own taste. The camera I’m using now is Sigma’s DP2 Quattro. This camera to me is sufficient, the quality is good, and the photographs come out with this natural look to it that mimics that of a film camera. I guess other cameras can also fulfill my needs, but I specifically like the physical appearance of this camera. I don’t want to use a camera that I can’t handle either, so this one is good for me.

Q 4 : HOMEWORK carries mostly secondhand items or things that have a history. How is it different from the more commercial select shops out there?A: We have assistants overseas that are on the look out for unique items. When we’re traveling we are always looking for one-of-a-kind items as well. We pick items using our own intuition and with the needs of the store in mind. Sometimes when we buy an item, we come back here and tweak it to our own style. Sometimes we buy it and don’t re-sell it, unless a client is really in love with it.